Cookies & Coffee
by 1stpunch
Summary: Dean has always wanted to impress Cas and with Valentines day approaching his students make him go above and beyond.


He made his coffee, swirling in two sugars and a hint of the flavored creamer. Cas was always very specific about how he took his coffee.

"Man, they took the last cookie." Cas laughed at the other recess duty's comment. He was always complaining about the lack of cookies in the break room.

"I think you need to lay off." Cas had said, leaning up against the counter, taking sips from his coffee. It was still too hot, burning his tongue with every sip but he didn't care much, it warmed him up before his shift outside with the kids.

"How come you never eat any cookies?" The man had asked, scoffing at the thought of Cas being against eating cookies.

"They're always chocolate chip. I mean, really, how stereotypical is that? Get me some oatmeal raisin cookies and I'll be all over that." The two laughed at Cas' statement and then walked out of the room.

Neither of them had really noticed the wide-eyed Dean, still struggling to force his hands to bring the burger to his mouth. He'd had a crush on Castiel the moment Castiel came to work at the school, always admiring from afar, though, because he was too much of a chicken to work up the nerve to say anything. He had always been a sucker for a pretty face, obviously.

~~~

Since that first day when Dean had first seen Cas he had wanted to make an impression, to stand out. It was stupid, really, to be so fixated on wanting to impress Cas but Dean honestly couldn't help himself. So to do this he made sure every day, at first recess, he showed up outside with a coffee in hand, two sugars and a hint of creamer. He would hand it to Cas, a warm smile on his face. Cas always took it, no objections, just a smile in return and a soft murmur of a 'thank you' which was more than Dean could ever have asked for.

At second recess Dean always brought out three oatmeal raisin cookies, always hand made by him (he had a secret love for baking that he would never admit to). Cas took the cookies too without hesitation, never questioning why Dean did this. Once Dean had lied, telling Cas that he brought it to everyone else too but no one else ate cookies or had coffee hand delivered to them. It was, in every definition Dean had, completely and utterly _lame_ but he did it anyway. Always happy to have been the one to make Cas smile, letting his heart melt just a little bit with each quirk of the lips. He had fallen head over heels that first time seeing him and it's only seemed to go downhill since then. Dean still hasn't worked up the courage to have an actual conversation, relying on cookies and coffee to produce any sort of interaction.

~~~

It was the day before valentines day, the kindergarteners Dean taught all giddy at the thought of arts and crafts. Dean had brought in stacks of colored construction paper, crayons, markers, glitter, the works. The kids all chose someone in their family or a friend to make a valentine for, more often making a mess of the room instead. Although clean-up was a pain, Dean loved watching the kids go nuts over the task at hand.

Jo, Sam, and Garth came up to Dean, all of them smiling like idiots. It's never a good sign when they come up to someone with that grin on their face, obviously seeking trouble.

"Are you gonna make a valentine for Mr. Novak?" Jo finally asks, the other two giggling in unison. Dean is completely shocked, at a loss for words, even slightly scared. He's never admitted his feelings for another man, to anyone.

"Ah, Jo, uh, no. It's not like that." She only narrowed her eyes at him.

"But you like him, right?" She retorted, drawing out the syllables for emphasis. Dean still had no idea what to say to them, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open in an attempt to speak but coming up with nothing.

Garth and Sam were not going to take 'no' for an answer. The two grabbed Dean's hands, pulling him towards one of the tables, Jo tagging along behind him. They forced him into one of the chairs, that being very uncomfortable as he was far too big. Jo ran off and grabbed some paper, glitter, and a few markers. She placed all of them in front of Dean.

"Come on, Mr. Winchester," was all she said.

Dean spent the next 10 minutes folding the paper and writing down a cheesy and over used valentines day greeting.

_"Castiel, be my valentine?"_

The kids decided that wasn't enough and cut out colorful hearts, gluing them all over the card, coloring random doodles on the paper. It turned out to be a mess of glitter and ink and hearts but in it's own way it had character. It showed that Dean had plenty of help from his students. _It's pretty much perfect. _He thought to himself, a small smile at how dorky he was feeling over the whole ordeal.

~~~

The next day came around and Dean handed Cas his cookie and coffee, just like any normal day. Though it wasn't normal, really. He knew Jo wasn't going to let him off the hook today. She had been dead set on making sure Castiel would get his card.

It was lunch time, the students all running to the playground, three of them hanging back. They went up to Dean, arms folded and faces drawn up in a look a disappointed mother might give her son. The towed him out, Sam and Garth pulling his hands, Jo leading the way towards Cas. Dean could have easily pulled away from the kids if he truly wanted, he didn't though. They stopped in front of Cas, the kids hanging back a few feet to give them space.

"Do it, Mr. Winchester." Jo said from behind him.

Dean took a deep breath, pulling the card out of his pocket and handing it to Cas, his cheeks a dark red as he was blushing furiously. Cas stared at the card for a few moments, not looking back up at Dean until Garth came over.

He reached up and tugged on Cas' sleeve. "Don't you have a card for Mr. Winchester? Don't you like him back?"

Dean and Cas made eye contact, Cas seeming somewhat alarmed with Garth's questions. Dean mouthed 'it's okay' to Cas, just to let him know that he doesn't mind, trying to give a message of 'no homo' even though it was actually all homo. Although Dean played it cool quite well, inside he felt so crushed. He had hoped all night that this little valentine might convey his feelings. It did show his feelings but the only downside was _Cas didn't return them._

Dean was about to look away when Cas blushed too, cheeks turning about the same color as Dean's.

Cas reached into his coat, pulling out a plain white envelope and thrusting it in Dean's direction. He had adverted his eyes, too shy or embarrassed to be able to look Dean in the eyes now.

Dean opened it slowly, still feeling the burning holes of the three kids eyes behind him. Once it was opened Dean pulled out a small piece of paper, the messy scrawl standing out. It was simple, nothing much written but it made butterflies erupt in Dean's stomach.

_"I like other food, besides cookies. Join me for dinner sometime?"_ There was even a small heart drawn next to it.

Dean looked up to Cas, a shy grin on his face but it was undeniable how happy he was. He knew that he had that same stupid grin on his face.

Neither of them said anything, they didn't need to and they didn't want to. They just smiled and it was cheesy and lame but they didn't care. The three kids behind them turned and ran, screaming the whole way that '_ewwww_ Mr. Winchester and Mr. Novak are being _gross._'

Dean didn't even care, he couldn't. Why should he? He had finally (been forced) to confess his feelings for Castiel and they were returned. He had a date. It was all that he could have hoped for and then some. So when Dean went back to his classroom and the kids came back to learn some more he was in his best mood, laughing along with those stupid little jokes. He was happy, happier than he had been in a long time.


End file.
